1. Field of the Invention
This patent application, as its title indicates, consists of a xe2x80x9cSLIDING MEMBRANE SWITCHxe2x80x9d, whose new characteristics of constructions shape and design fulfil the purpose for which it was specifically designed, with maximum security and effectiveness and providing numerous advantages like those indicated in the present specifications.
2. Description of the Related Art
There exist switches intended to control different movements of a mechanism that incorporates, in the same body of the switch, several contact components controlling the passage of the current from the electric circuit that corresponds to each one of the mechanisms controlling the mentioned switch. As an example, in the field of automobiles, switches are known by which the user may control the position of the seat by means of the arrangement of a series of electric motors and devices. Said switches include two multidirectional activation levers, with up to six movements each, one extended over numerous legs acting on electric connectors. The movement of one of the levers in a determined direction provokes the contact of one of said legs with the corresponding connector, activating one part of the seat. Therefore, with a same switch it is possible to adjust the seat as to the distance from the steering wheel, in height, in angle, etc. Another alternative of the switch described are those configured by switch modules, each one of which are destined to control a movement. However, both types of switches have the disadvantage of being complicated to manufacture and assemble. In the case of lever switches, the structure is complex due to the fact that they have to have as many springs and legs as required for the control of the different mechanism movements. In the second case, the arrangement of switch modules makes the combination expensive for not dealing with a single switch.
This invention has been developed so as to solve the disadvantages of known switches, providing a sliding membrane switch, capable of controlling the different movements of a determined mechanism by means of a simple configuration from the construction and functional standpoint.
With a sliding membrane switch in accordance with the present invention, the goals foreseen as well as added advantages are obtained, as is described below.
The switch, purpose of the invention, is of the type that includes a body having a switch destined to trigger different actuators. The latter basically consists of two aligned arms that protrude in an opposing manner from a swinging body. The ends of said arms are destined to respectively act over the upper base of the cones of a membrane to activate a specific part of a circuit. The particularity of the switch of the invention lies in that it includes a strip and at least two fixed guides arranged between the key and the corresponding actuators and has the purpose of guiding the sliding movement of the runner found rigidly joined to the key. The sliding of the key by the user provokes the sliding of the mentioned runner, provoking the consequent triggering of a determined actuator that, in turn, makes contact with the printed circuit membrane.
In a preferred embodiment of what is the purpose of this invention, said runner consists of a sliding strip having at its opposite ends two pivots which are extended upwards. Said pivots are respectively housed inside the mentioned fixed guides, which have two longitudinal grooves arranged perpendicular to each other. The arrangement of said guide grooves permits the displacement of the key together with the runner in two perpendicular directions, and therefore allows the triggering of two actuators installed such that their arms are perpendicular to each other.
Preferably, the sliding switch of the invention includes a central actuator and two side actuators, each one of which has the aforementioned configuration, that is, formed by two aligned arms which protrude opposite to each other from a swinging body. The side actuators are arranged such that their arms are parallel to each other and perpendicular to those of the central actuator. The arrangement described configures a six position sliding membrane switch, which may be used advantageously for the activation, for example, of the vehicle seat, permitting the back inclination to be controlled and adjusted, as well as the height and the distance of the user from the steering wheel, it being possible to use it with configurations of two and four movements with the elimination of the corresponding actuators.
According to another aspect of this invention, the aforementioned central actuator consists of a pivot that protrudes upwards and is suitably sized to be located in a rotary manner in a lower housing of the runner. In this way, the displacement of the runner provoked by the movement of the key executed by the user has as a result, the swinging of the central actuator that triggers one of the actuator arms making contact with a membrane cone.
The switch of the invention has a simple construction and is economic to manufacture, allowing several different mechanisms of a system to be activated effectively, thanks to the different positions enabling the mentioned guides in combination with the runner associated to the key.